Electronic equipment such as televisions, telephones, radios and computers are often constructed of solid state devices. Solid state devices operate based on the movement of charge carriers. Accordingly, solid state devices have no moving parts.
Solid state devices are generally preferred in electronic equipment because they are extremely reliable, very small and relatively inexpensive. Solid state devices may be transistors, capacitors, resistors and the like. Such devices are often formed as part of an integrated circuit.
Increasingly, solid state devices are made smaller to reduce the size of electronic equipment. For a transistor, the smaller size compels a narrow gate. The gate controls the flow of current through the transistor. Reducing the width of the gate, however, usually increases the sheet resistance of the transistor. Such an increase in the sheet resistance deteriorates the performance of the transistor.